Picante mac and cheese

“Everybody loves queso. This is like a queso pasta dish,” says Eli Huff, executive chef and culinary operations coordinator. Huff says using the tricolored tortilla chips adds color to the dish, making it more enticing for students—although he admits students already love mac and cheese. Huff discovered the chip trick when he was working in a restaurant and he ran out of tortilla strips. He substituted with the chips and it’s been working ever since.

It was a decision that brought the duo recognition at Monday night’s MenuDirections 2015 awards ceremony in Memphis, Tenn., which is part of FoodService Director magazine’s annual conference geared towards foodservice operators and suppliers.